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A. K. Biswas unearths from 19th century Bengal the life and battle of Dayamoyee, an illiterate ‘untouchable’ widow. She fought a relentless legal battle against the brahmanical feudal system that had already permeated into the halls of justice

V. Geetha writes that Periyar held that annihilation of caste would necessitate ‘the abolition of God, Religion, Shastras and Brahmins’. He also attacked patriarchy and ‘Brahmin nationalism’ in pursuit of true human freedom

History bears witness to the fact that Dalit Literature had emerged in Maharashtra well before 1950. Built on an ideological foundation substantiated by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Dalit Literature is today said to be posing a challenge to mainstream literature. How did Dalit Literature undergo this metamorphosis? J.V. Pawar, a co-founder of Dalit Panthers, has the answer

On 15 March 1947, Dr Ambedkar gave a memorandum to the Constituent Assembly for implementing “state socialism” through the Constitution. He wanted the Indian Constitution to mandate the nationalization of industry, agriculture, land and insurance, and collectivization of farming. But the Constituent Assembly did not let this happen, writes Kanwal Bharti

In the preface to his latest book, Mohandas Namishray traces the history of the modern Indian press starting with its founder, James Augustus Hicky. While lamenting today’s page-3-type reporting, he hails the path-breaking journalism of Dr B.R. Ambedkar that awakened and educated the oppressed, he himself included

That Ambedkar and Gandhi had their differences is well known. They had sharp differences of opinion but they continued to hold dialogues. Eventually, the Constitution became an endorsement of Ambedkar’s views. But apart from Ambedkar, there have been many other Bahujan thinkers whose insights are key to upliftment of deprived sections of society

In her pioneering research on Ambedkar’s activism and politics, Eleanor Zelliot did a fine job of gleaning the various facets. However, the ‘Mahar Movement’, as she refers to Ambedkar’s movement, is a restrictive misnomer, writes Yashwant Zagade

Those who have termed the revolt of 1857 as the first war for India’s independence are the fools who wanted freedom for the Hindus alone. It didn’t bother them that had the revolt succeeded by ill luck, the princely kingdoms would have perpetuated the system that had denied the Untouchables their basic human rights. Explains Kanwal Bharti:

Bangar argued that a nexus of the ruling class, the corporates and the media continue to subjugate the Mulnivasi Bahujans and that real change must happen at the social rather than the legal level

For the first instalment of the series, ‘Untold stories of Shudra-Atishudra Awakening’, Kanwal Bharti delves into the history of India’s Hindi heartland